The Prestegard bridge near old Sorlien Mill is torn down

Serving as a source of “enmity” that split the Minnesota Falls township into two factions for 15 years, the Prestegaard Bridge has spanned the Yellow Medicine River in a way that has not always brought people together.

Comment

By Scott TedrickNews Editor

Granite Falls Advocate Tribune

By Scott TedrickNews Editor

Posted Mar. 8, 2013 at 3:27 PM
Updated Mar 8, 2013 at 3:45 PM

By Scott TedrickNews Editor

Posted Mar. 8, 2013 at 3:27 PM
Updated Mar 8, 2013 at 3:45 PM

The Prestegaard Bridge was closed for good in 2007. This past week it was torn down.

Constructed in 1909 at the old Sorlien Mill crossing on what is now known as 560th St. in Minnesota Falls Township, south of Granite Falls, the Prestegard bridge was built of steel, concrete and a plank floor crossing, spanning 173 feet. In 1952 the bridge was closed and then reopened three years later after it received its last major repairs in 1955. It has been in a state of deterioration ever since.

History

Serving as a source of “enmity” that split the Minnesota Falls township into two factions for 15 years, the Prestegaard Bridge has spanned the Yellow Medicine River in a way that has not always brought people together.

The following is a historal narrative about the bridge as it appears in “A History of Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota 1872 to 1972,” by Carl and Amy Narvestad.